This is a cowboy, this is what a cowboy looks like. This is a Western, this is what a Western looks like. This is a person who looks like me. This is a song. This is not a song.

Everything is dependent on thousands of little agreements and if those agreements fall apart then everything will fall apart, and we will die, which, according to another agreement, is something that we don’t want. Why I Wear This Shirt takes a look at the rules we live by without noticing them and the compromises we readily enter into in order for other people to like us.

“I did it because it seemed like the thing to do. I try to understand, as quickly as possible, what other people expect of me. I think this is a reasonable tone of voice to speak in.”

Why I Wear This Shirt is a solo performance that makes use of language and movement as well as the throwing of objects and the lighting of lamps or matches.

Gunilla Heilborn and Kim Hiorthøy have worked together in various ways on various projects for more than 10 years. They view their collaboration as a kind of long conversation, and Why I Wear This Shirt as a culmination of that conversation.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.